Cleaning Up After
by bonessasan
Summary: Kaoru's life was boring until a mysterious redheaded man comes into the dry cleaner's where she works. A mystery is uncovered, but what do the clues mean? Ignore the dumb title, give the story a chance!
1. Chapter 1 First Meeting

Summary: Kaoru works at a dry cleaners and nothing is all that interesting about her life . . . that is until the mysterious Mr. B with his red hair and amber eyes showed up. Slowly Kaoru uncovers clues to something, but what? Sorta Kaoru/Battousai  
  
~~~  
  
DISCLAIMER: I think it goes without saying that I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or anything affiliated with it. Why anyone would ever think someone on fanfiction.net actually owned something is beyond me but apparently something must have happened if everyone feels a need to say they don't own something. People are crazy.  
  
~@~  
  
Cleaning Up After by bonessasan  
  
~@~  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Kaoru yawned as she looked at her surroundings, extremely bored. She was sitting on a stool in the back of the dry cleaning store where she worked, her hands propping up her chin, her elbows on a table. The walls all seemed to have an almost dingy gray tint to them. Kaoru hadn't decided if that was because the walls truly were that color or if it was because that was what color everything looked like to her. Everything had been gray since that fateful night.  
  
:: Flashback (three years) ::  
  
Kaoru walked into the house, slamming the door behind her. She cringed. Father wasn't going to like that. He was always telling her that it was bad manners to slam doors, not to mention being extremely annoying.  
  
"Father, I'm home!" she called up the stairs cheerfully. There was no response. "Father?" she asked tentatively.  
  
She climbed the familiar stairs and walked down the familiar hall. For some reason she wasn't able to shake the feeling that something was wrong. Her hand started shaking as she reached for the doorknob to her father's room. She looked at it curiously. 'Why am I shaking like that? It isn't like there's anything wrong,' she thought as she gently pushed the door inward.  
  
"Father?" she whispered, wondering if he was just asleep and hadn't heard her come in. Wait, no. That wasn't very likely. She *had* slammed the door after all . . .  
  
As the door slowly swung fully open a shocking sight met with her widening eyes. The first thing that caught her attention was the fact that the windows were open, the curtains swaying gently in the idle breeze. That didn't seem right. Father never left windows open like that. That was when she saw him slumped over his desk, almost as if in slumber.  
  
"Father? Father?!?! Answer me!" She rushed over to him. She put one hand on the desk so that she could lean over her father to see if he really was sleeping. There was something warm and wet on her hand. She slowly lifted her hand so that she could look at it. Blood. It was only then that she noticed the pungent smell that permeated the room. There was too much blood. Too much. It was impossible that he would be . . .  
  
"No," she whispered. "No, this can't be. You can't be dead. You can't!" She shook his stiff body roughly until she finally broke down and started sobbing. She never noticed the amber eyes that were watching her from the window.  
  
And that was how the police had found her: gently weeping over her father's fallen body.  
  
:: End Flashback ::  
  
The world had lost its color after that. Kaoru first noticed it at her father's funeral. Since her father hadn't really been killed while on duty, all his coworkers from the station weren't allowed to wear their uniforms, and he wasn't given a formal funeral. Kaoru didn't care. Formal funeral or not, her father was dead. Since they couldn't wear their uniforms, all policemen wore the traditional black. It was almost as if the day itself had turned dark, devoid of light or happiness. Black. Just black.  
  
Now that she had some time to heal, it seemed like the world had lightened to a nice medium gray. Kaoru laughed a little sardonically at that. 'Yeah, a real nice medium gray.' It was still dark, though, and true color couldn't be found anywhere. Kaoru was starting to wonder if she would ever be able to truly see colors once again. Oh, she could see colors just fine, but she couldn't sense them with her heart, feel them with her soul. She missed it. Oh how she missed it.  
  
The obnoxious door chime going off interrupted Kaoru's reverie. She hated that thing with a passion. It was her taskmaster. It would taunt her, tell her that she'd never be free of it, that she had to jump up and play her part whenever it told her to, almost like a Pavlovian relationship. She would have dearly loved to take a hammer to the stupid thing, but she couldn't. As much as she disliked the stupid thing, she still needed it. Curses. She was perfectly fine in the realm of her thoughts, she didn't need to be reminded that she was at work.  
  
In preparation before she walked from behind the wall that separated the back from the front of the store, she pasted on a fake smile. She felt like a frickin' Barbie, smiling like that. It was all a part of her job, though, so she had to do it, no matter how hypocritical the action was.  
  
"Hello," she said cheerily. She could be a good actress when she needed to be. 'Maybe I should pursue acting, rather than staying in the oh-so- lucrative dry cleaning business.'  
  
But no matter how good she was at acting, she wasn't able to hide the shock she felt when she saw the customer.  
  
He wasn't very tall, probably only a few inches taller than Kaoru herself. But it wasn't his height that had surprised her. He had fiery red hair. Not brown with a reddish tint, not strawberry blonde, or auburn, but RED. He also had a curious cross-shaped scar on his cheek. Kaoru couldn't help but wonder how someone would go about getting a scar like that. Oddly it made him look somewhat dashing, almost dignified. Kaoru was sure that there had to be an impressive story behind the imperfection.  
  
The man looked up when she greeted him. His eyes were almost even more shocking than his hair. They were a surreal shade of amber. They made her shudder involuntarily and she hoped that he hadn't noticed. That would be bad PR, but if the man had noticed he didn't show any outward sign of it. She felt a little relief at that, but she was never truly at ease around customers and this man was *certainly* no exception.  
  
He put a pile of clothes on the counter. Kaoru pulled out an order form and mindlessly went through the procedure she could probably do in her sleep.  
  
"Name?"  
  
"Mr. B," the man answered. His voice was cold and hard.  
  
She gave him an odd look for a second but shrugged her shoulders and wrote it down. Who knows, maybe that really is his name. Odder things have happened, after all . . . .  
  
"Phone number?"  
  
"Don't have one. Don't worry about it."  
  
"OK," she said reluctantly, drawing out the 'K'. "Did you want starch?" she asked, motioning with her hand to the pile.  
  
"No. No starch."  
  
"Okay then, your clothes will be ready tomorrow after six," Kaoru said, gathering all the clothes up into her arms as she headed toward the back to tag them all in so they wouldn't be separated when they were cleaned. "Have a nice day," she called over her shoulder, but no one was there. 'How odd.' She hadn't even heard the door chime when he left. 


	2. Chapter 2 What They Thought

He couldn't believe that he had been reduced to being the laundry boy. It was bad enough that he wasn't sent out on missions anymore, but being the person sent to have the laundry done was downright degrading. 'It's fairly obvious that he doesn't really know who I am, and if he does then he doesn't know what it means that I am who I am.' He was a killer. Clean, methodical, and thorough; a dyed-in-the-wool killer. NOT a laundry boy.  
  
He sighed as he pulled the door to the dry cleaners open. A door chime went off. The sound of it was annoying and grated against his nerves. He stood, waiting for the counter attendant. It didn't take her long to appear.  
  
She appeared to be around 18. She wasn't very tall, maybe around 5'1", 5'2" at the most. She had long, lustrous black locks that set off the pale tone of her skin. They lent the perfect background for her stunningly clear blue eyes. When she first came out he could tell that her smile wasn't genuine. For some reason he felt as if he could relate, although he didn't know why. She didn't really have the face of a liar, but then again, neither did he. He understood what it was like to have to put on a face for the rest of the world to see; a face that belied the person hiding behind it.  
  
"Hello," she said cheerily. Her voice sounded happy, but there was a somewhat hollow look to her eyes that told him otherwise. It was very subtle, and most people probably wouldn't have seen it, but the Battoussai had a very critical eye when it came to observing others.  
  
She pulled out of piece of paper and asked, "Name?"  
  
For a split second he wanted to say "Battoussai" but that wouldn't work. "Mr. B." He cringed inwardly. 'Mr. B.? What kind of a stupid name is that? I'm such a moron!' He had tried to school his voice so he didn't sound strange, but for some reason he had the feeling he had failed. The girl looked up at him with a questioning look, but then shrugged her shoulders as if she didn't really care.  
  
"Phone number?"  
  
This question he was prepared for. "Don't have one. Don't worry about it." He knew better than to leave any sort of trail. Besides, only amateurs would give out that kind of information when the police could follow the paper trail without any problem. He was by no means an amateur. Far from it.  
  
"OK." The 'K' was drawn out, revealing that she questioned whether he was being honest or not. But once again it seemed as if she decided she didn't care and moved on to the next question she apparently had to ask.  
  
"Would you like starch?"  
  
"No. No starch." Starch would make the clothes noisier. You could hear the fabric whenever you moved. If noise could be avoided then it should and would be; that was paramount in his line of work.  
  
"Okay then, your clothes will be ready tomorrow . . . " He never heard the end of what she said. For some reason it made him nervous to be there. He left as quickly as possible. There was something weird about that dry cleaner girl. What it was he didn't know. He shrugged his shoulders and let it go. It would come to him at some point. Everything always did.  
  
Kaoru settled down to the task of tagging all the clothes. 'So many stupid shirts!' she moaned in her head. 'Twenty. Wonderful. Thank-you, Mr. Creepy.' For each shirt she had to make sure that the collar wasn't buttoned down, that the cuffs weren't buttoned and that there wasn't anything in the breast pocket. Every last one of the twenty shirts had the collars and cuffs buttoned. Today just wasn't her day.  
  
As she stood there, mindlessly unbuttoning things, her thoughts returned to the enigmatic man that had brought them in. What was he like? What kind of work did he do that he needed so many business shirts? He almost certainly didn't work for an advertising company, that's for sure. He seemed like he wouldn't be able to sell anything. Not a whole lot of charisma. Not a whole lot of warmth. Not a whole lot of anything, come to think of it. He seemed empty.  
  
'Mmm, his clothes smell good . . .' she thought lazily. 'What?! What am I thinking?! What kind of a weirdo goes around smelling other peoples' clothes? Neurotic ones, that's what kind!' She shook her head. She sure seemed to be having a lot of weird thoughts today. Strange.  
  
By the time she finished tagging all the shirts in, it was time for her to close up shop. She was out by 7:05 PM. Just like she always was. It took her five minutes to drive home. Just like it always did. She pulled out a frozen TV dinner and put it in the microwave. Just like she always did. She'd go to night school from about 8:00 PM to 10:30 PM. Just like she always did. Day in and day out it seemed like she never did anything different. Maybe that was the reason the world didn't seem to have any color anymore. Nothing different ever happened in her life. It was always work, school and sleep. She realized that she was starting to get really apathetic towards life in general. That wasn't good, she'd have to do something about that.  
  
She didn't have class that night, and after she finished eating her dinner, she thought about the homework she should probably do. She didn't really feel like doing it, so she decided that, in the meantime, sleep would be a wonderful activity. Maybe she would dream of a mysterious short, redheaded and handsome man she had seen for the first time that very day. That might not be bad . . .  
  
The next day when Kaoru went in to take over for her afternoon shift, Misao, her cousin, told her an interesting story about some weird customer that came in. A strange man with red hair and a scar on his cheek. He had asked when his clothes would be ready.  
  
"He wasn't very happy. I don't understand that. How can people not be happy? It's impossible!"  
  
"Only for you, Misao," Kaoru muttered quietly, but loud enough that Misao could hear it.  
  
"Whatever," Misao said airily, dismissing the idea with a wave of her hand. "He might have been a sourpuss, but he was really hot!"  
  
Kaoru rolled her eyes. Her cousin seemed to have a penchant for falling for the quiet, serious guys. She'd never understand her cousin. But that was just Misao for you: loud, sometimes obnoxious, and possibly slightly insane.  
  
"I know," Kaoru said. "I was the one who took his clothes in."  
  
A tiny flickering light bulb appeared above Misao's head. If she hadn't taken the guy's clothes in, then it must have been Kaoru, seeing as how they were the only two people that worked there. 'Duh.'  
  
"I hope he comes in during my shift again sometime. I have a million questions I'd absolutely love to ask him."  
  
"I don't doubt it," Kaoru answered in a knowing tone while rolling her eyes.  
  
"Well, since you're here I guess I'm off! See you tomorrow Kaoru!" Misao yelled over her shoulder as she headed out the back door, waving maniacally.  
  
"Yeah. Later."  
  
Sighing she settled herself on the old stool and turned her attention to the old TV. She highly doubted that the rabbit ears were even connected to the dumb thing since the reception was always crappy. The color on it was messed up, too. Everything was heavily tinted yellow. Kaoru was just thankful for the noise and the occasional amusement. So what if those teeth whitening ads didn't make the product look like it worked all that well. It wasn't like she cared anyway.  
  
~  
  
She didn't know how long she had been zoned out, but her brain seemed to have just shut off. It was the accursed door chime that had raised her out of her stupor. 'Another day, another dollar. I wonder who the idiot that said that was. I'd like to ring his annoying little neck! Oh well, whatever.'  
  
She came from behind the wall that separated the back of the store from the front and was somewhat surprised to see the man from the day before. She forgot to greet the guy she was so startled. He didn't say anything.  
  
"Mr. B., right?" she asked after what felt like minutes upon minutes when in truth it was only a second or two.  
  
The man only nodded in reply.  
  
'He's just too weird for words. I'm glad Misao got to see him for herself, otherwise she would have pestered me into an early grave until she could be certain that I had told her every little thing I could possibly know about him . . .'. Kaoru absently wondered if anyone had ever truly been pestered to death. With Misao around, it was a distinct possibility.  
  
Kaoru was able to find his clothes on the rack fairly quickly and took them out to him. "Your total is $25."  
  
'Mr. B.' simply held out a twenty and a five, offering no verbal communication. He was speaking loads with his body language, though. He seemed a little tense to Kaoru, somewhat nervous and edgy. Sometimes she intimidated people a little, but this was just odd. She wondered if he was always prone to such a taciturn disposition. She had some trouble deciding if that's exactly the kind of person that she could really get along with or exactly the kind of person she'd love to shove off a cliff.  
  
She punched the total in the cash register and put the bills in the drawer. "Thank you and have a nice day!" she said, her 'Barbie' smile firmly in place as she handed him his receipt. The only clue she had that he had even heard her was an almost imperceptible nod of his head.  
  
Only after the door had closed after him did Kaoru notice that the atmosphere became less taut. For some reason it was easier for her to breathe. 'How bizarre.'  
  
~@~  
  
As soon as he was out the door the chill wind nipped fiercely at his cheeks and nose, making them a cheery pink. But cheery was most likely the only thing the young man was not. His scar was probably more pronounced when his cheeks were read, which annoyed him greatly. And it didn't help that weather like this always reminded him. It hurt to remember. But it was best to just try and forget about it, push it to the back of his mind to be left, hopefully for good.  
  
He shoved his hand deep into his coat pockets, seeking for any possible warmth but finding none. It didn't really matter, since he reached his car within mere minutes from having left the dry cleaners.  
  
His car was fairly nondescript. It almost screamed "You don't need to pay any attention to me. I'm not suspicious in any way." Battoussai was slightly amused by the idea that perhaps his car stood out because it didn't stand out. But that was just foolishness. It was a simple black car; the body shape could have come from any carmaker. It was modest, too. It didn't have any of those new useless added on features that people seemed to like so much these days. He was truly a minimalist at heart, and his car reflected it. And besides, you don't want a car that would draw attention when you have the job that he did.  
  
It appeared that a ritual had been created from the very first day they met. Battoussai would come to the cleaners, act cold and unforgiving, and speak in short clipped sentences (if any talking was truly necessary) while he dropped his clothes off. Kaoru would display her 'plastic smile,' act fakely polite and cheerful, and wonder what the heck was up with this weird guy. It became a sort of rhythm, one that Kaoru had come to rely on although she didn't realize it. It was exactly like clockwork. Mr. B would come in on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at 3:00 PM to drop his clothes off and would return again that day to pick them up at 6:00 PM. His coming and going was constant, and subconsciously Kaoru was lulled by it, almost comforted. But he still made her nervous.  
  
He had this look about his eyes that she couldn't quite explain. It made her uncomfortable that she couldn't. And it wasn't just the look he had in his eyes, there was just something unsettling about the way he would just stare at her. Kaoru wasn't sure if his stare made her feel like a field mouse being hunted by a hawk, or a horse being judged at a competition for breeding. Either explanation carried imagery with it that she didn't really care for.  
  
Anyway, it had been four weeks now that Mr. B had been coming. It was a Thursday. Kaoru didn't even really notice. A day was a day, and the only thing that separated one day from another was the intolerably lonely nights that seemed to drag on infinitely. But this day was going to be a day that she would remember for the rest of her life; a day that would stand out, clearly defined as it stood out against the blur of every other day. It started out normally enough. Misao had been her usual bubbly self and Kaoru had been her usual depressed self. Nothing new. Then Mr. B came to drop off his clothes.  
  
There wasn't anything special about the fact that he dropped his clothes off, he did every Thursday, but this time there was something different. When Kaoru was undoing buttons she found a folded up piece of paper in one of the pockets.  
  
'I really shouldn't pry, but I hardly know anything about him. Why would anyone want to be so secretive about everything?' she thought. After battling with herself she made her decision and carefully unfolded the paper.  
  
It was office stationery from the desk of someone called Kanryu Takeda. Kaoru shrugged her shoulders; she thought the name was somewhat familiar, but didn't think that she knew of anyone named that. She looked further down on the paper. There was writing, but Kaoru couldn't make it out at all. It literally looked like chicken scratches. She sighed, setting the paper aside to be put with Mr. B's clothes after they were cleaned and to return it to him. The rest of the day was pretty normal. Except for one thing. Kaoru couldn't shake the feeling that the name Kanryu Takeda was really familiar. It bothered her that she couldn't think of why. 


	3. Chapter 3 A Mystery Uncovered

Later that night Kaoru decided that she wasn't going to go to school that day, deciding that she would take a "mental health" day. Life had been wearing her down for a while now and she felt that she needed at least one night of rest.  
  
At first Kaoru couldn't think of anything to do with herself. She always kept herself so busy that she never really had any time to think about things, sort through memories, deal with the traumas of her life. Now that she had given her mind a minute's worth of rest the dams were opened and all the memories and emotions came rushing to her mind. It was overwhelming. She tried to push them into the back of her mind where they had been but the refused to be budged. Kaoru finally decided that it would probably be easier to just deal with them instead of trying to get rid of them like always.  
  
In her room in a box under her bed she kept a journal and some other important papers. She hadn't actually written in the journal since the day her father died. For some reason she just couldn't find it in herself to pull it out and write in it. But she decided to pull it out now, not to write but to read.  
  
She started reading at the beginning ('A very good place to start,' she thought, half smiling at her little allusion joke). The earliest entries were from when she was very young. She grimaced at her atrocious spelling and grammar but she had to smile at the things her younger self had deemed important enough to be recorded. Silly little things that people begin to take for granted as they get older, leaving only young children to truly appreciate them.  
  
As she read further Kaoru could see the subtle changes that she had gone through. They were all very gradual until about the time she was in ninth grade. Her journal entries became increasingly more about her Father and her worries about him. He suddenly started acting strange, he didn't sleep as much. When he did sleep, it was restless and he would constantly mutter things. Most of it was unintelligible but she managed to catch a few words and phrases: "Drug smuggling ring" "Something's not right" and "Kanryu Takeda." Her eyes widened as she read that part. She hadn't understood what her father's words could possibly mean when she had heard him say them, but she did now.  
  
'Kanryu Takeda has something to do with a drug smuggling ring? That still doesn't help me! Is Mr. B. Kanryu Takeda? For some reason I doubt it. Mr. B. doesn't seem like that kind of guy.' When she realized what she had just thought she scolded herself thinking, 'How do you know that, Kaoru? You don't know *anything* about that guy!'  
  
That was unacceptable. 'That's gonna hafta change!' she thought resolutely. 'I'm going to learn everything I can about this mysterious man. I don't care what I have to do!' She slammed her journal shut with finality. As she turned to put it back in the box it was kept in she noticed a manila folder.  
  
There didn't seem to be anything special about the folder at first glance. There certainly weren't any markings on it that would designate it as being something important. But looks can be deceiving.  
  
~@~  
  
Kaoru's brows furrowed as she carefully opened the folder. She had no idea what it could possibly be and no clue how it got there in the first place. When she pulled out the papers inside, she no longer wondered.  
  
In her hand she held a note to her written in her father's elegant hand.  
  
~  
  
'My Dear Kaoru,  
  
If you are reading this I probably wasn't careful enough in doing my job. I hope that my death hasn't caused you too much grief, I wouldn't ever want to be a source of pain for you.  
  
Kaoru, I was never completely honest with you about my job. I couldn't bring myself to tell you what I truly did because it would put you in danger. It wasn't a lie that I worked for the police force, but my duties weren't that of a normal police officer. I was part of a special unit designed to work on cases involving crime lords, drugs, smuggling rings, etc. That is the reason why I'm writing this for you and leaving you a copy of the work that I have done so far.  
  
I have felt my horizon darkening for a while now and I'm afraid that I won't be around much longer. Sadly, I don't trust my coworkers to continue this case after my demise. I can't bear the thought that my work might be ignored even though it could save many lives. Kanryu Takeda is already responsible for the deaths of many people. Probably mine, too, if you are reading this.  
  
In this folder are copies of all the important documents I have on this case. I have no doubt that the office will come and seize the originals pretty quickly after my death. What the people at the office don't know about is that I made these copies or about the tools that I hid under the floorboards in my room. I know you, my sweet Kaoru, and I know that once you find out the true nature of my death that you will dive headlong into this case. Even though it goes against my better judgment I have decided that since I know you're going to do it, I might as well provide you with all the information I know and all the help I can. In my room underneath the floorboards where my dresser is are my tools. They may be a little outdated but they do their job. My heart aches for doing this, but I know you're going take this case on no matter what. I wish you luck my dear Kaoru.  
  
Your father  
  
PS I have a few hints for you. Not all people can be accurately judged by appearance or by things they have done in the past. What makes them who they are is what they're doing now and what they intend to do in the future. Also, for your sake, let your heart be open to others. The world can be lonely sometimes, but it can also be a paradise.'  
  
~  
  
She indulged herself in a watery smile when she read the last part. Her father always taught her the most important lessons by starting her in the right direction and letting her figure them out herself. The things he said to her didn't always make sense, just like the PS in his letter. That was just her father for you.  
  
Kaoru smirked when she thought about her father saying that he knew her well enough to know she'd take on the case. He was right. Was it possible that even after all that had happened that she was still the same Kaoru that her father predicted she was going to be? She really hoped so, her father was a very good man.  
  
After allowing herself a few minutes to sit and digest everything in the note, she got up and walked to her father's room. She carefully opened the door, almost as if any sudden movement might awaken ghosts in the room. It definitely looked like the kind of place a ghost would like to hang around. Sheets covered most of the furniture, dust was everywhere. Kaoru hadn't gone in the room again after the police had dragged her out kicking and screaming the night her father had died. It felt a little strange to be there now.  
  
She walked over to the dresser and started trying to push it to the side. It was heavy, which wasn't surprising since it was solid oak. 'It figures that father would pick the heaviest piece of furniture in the room to hide something underneath!' she thought in an almost sarcastic way. Since the dresser was pretty close to a corner of the room, she propped her back against the wall that ran perpendicular to the wall the dresser was against, giving her a solid anchor to push from. She carefully placed her feet against the side of the dresser and pushed with all her might. Even though it took a while she was finally able to move it far enough that she could probably reach where the tools were hidden. She looked at the floor and noticed a knot hole in one of the boards. The board seemed unusually short, too. She gingerly stuck a finger in the knot hole and pulled up. The board gave a little resistance at first, but eventually complied with her will. Sure enough there were some tools underneath where the board had been. Most of the things Kaoru didn't recognize and she had the feeling that she'd probably have no need for them. She pulled out what looked like a marker. It kinda reminded her of the one she had at the dry cleaning store that you use to check if a bill is counterfeit. She read the side of the marker.  
  
"Drug Indicator Pen, when ink comes in contact with certain drugs the ink will change to certain colors."  
  
Underneath it had a chart of drugs and colors. The colors all seemed normal enough except for one. It was a strange golden amber color. It was the color that indicated opium. Something about it reminded Kaoru of something but she couldn't think of what. 'I doubt the answer is in my journal this time,' she thought with a smirk.  
  
Yawning Kaoru realized that not only was it getting late but that she was completely bushed. She stood, pocketing the indicator pen as she left her father's room. Then she groggily brushed her teeth and changed into her pajamas. Climbing into her bed she couldn't help but think of how welcoming it felt. Within seconds she had fallen into a deep slumber.  
  
~@~  
  
Saturday found Kaoru sitting anxiously in the back of the dry cleaning store. She chewed at her fingernails nervously, a habit that she hadn't indulged in for years. Every time someone came in and the chime went off she would jump. She had good reason to be nervous. Today she was going to do a little investigation on Mr. B.  
  
AN: I know it's not the longest, but hey, at least I updated, right? Anyway, there's a lot of stuff in this story that's made up. If it sounds weird, chances are that I came up with it just for this story. Oh yeah, I only wanted to write out my disclaimer once, it still applies to the rest of the fic, though.  
  
StratusNight: Here you go Little Miss Bossy! Geez, you're so pushy. I'm just kidding. Here, I updated just for you. Don't you feel special? I should *hope* it sounds familiar. I did a good jorb? Yay!  
  
Carebear: Thanks for the review and the encouragement. I only hope I can keep the quality of the fic where it is if it doesn't get better. We'll see, only time will tell. 


	4. Chapter 4 Confrontations

~~~~ Cleaning Up After ~ Chapter 4 Confrontation by bonessasan ~~~~  
  
Of course it had to be the moment she had finally begun to relax that the guy finally had the decency to show up. It was the highest she had jumped all day when he came in the door.  
  
As she walked around the dividing wall, she was terrified. It was like she *knew* he'd know what she was up to and then she'd be caught. She had no idea what he would do if he found out what she was up to and she didn't really want to find out. But her fear was nowhere near as potent as her curiosity about the man.  
  
Everything went as it normally did. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary until Mr. B said that he was going to pay beforehand. He never did that.  
  
This was exactly the moment Kaoru had been waiting for! She anxiously fingered the indicator pen in her pocket, dearly hoping that he'd decide to use currency instead of a credit card or a check. She mentally smacked herself. If he wasn't going to tell her his real name then why would he use a credit card or a check? 'Don't be so stupid, Kaoru!' she mentally cursed herself.  
  
Just as she had suspected he used currency. It took a concentrated effort to not let her absolute glee show on her face when she took it from his hand. It would be suspicious since she was usually of a somewhat gloomy disposition whenever Mr. B saw her. She was barely able to contain herself until after he disappeared from view.  
  
She moved like a mad woman. Practically throwing his clothes onto the table in the back she almost ran into the wall trying to get to the cash register in a hurry. After she opened the drawer, she sat and stared at the bills for a moment, wondering if she really wanted to know. She figured there probably was a reason why there's an old saying about how what a person doesn't know won't hurt them. There was also the one about curiosity killing the cat, too. But what did she care, the people who first said those things are probably dead anyway!  
  
She gingerly plucked the bills from the drawer and secreted them into the back of the store. She drew the pen from her pocket with a shaky hand and nervously opened the cap. She was handling the task with such delicacy that anyone watching might have thought she was trying to disarm a sensitive bomb. She carefully made a mark on the $5 and waited. And waited. Nothing!  
  
For a moment she was in shock. She was positive that there would have been at least *something* on the money. About to slouch down on the stool in defeat she remembered there was still the $20. The tension was palpable as the pen slowly yet surely neared its target. The mark was made.  
  
A brilliant swatch of amber bloomed on the bill. Kaoru stared at it in shock for a moment or two. She had been right. Mr. B was either Kanryu Takeda or he worked for him; Takeda was probably the one who killed her father.  
  
Her face purpled in rage. Then paled to a deathly white as she wondered how she'd be able to face Mr. B again knowing that he probably had something to do with her father's death.  
  
She fell back on the stool and stared at the floor. Her mouth went dry at the thought that the mysterious redheaded, scarred, amber-eyed man could be the murderer of her father. 'And I had thought that he might have been kind of good looking! I am so disgusted with myself!' As upset as she was, she couldn't find it in herself to cry. She couldn't figure out why. It almost made her feel like she was dishonoring her father by not crying, but the tears just wouldn't come.  
  
She felt stuck. Now that she knew about Mr. B, what was she going to do? Her father had been a skilled fighter, and if Mr. B had been able to kill him anyway, he would definitely be able to kill her! It would be suicide for her to go after him herself. She was no detective, that's for certain. But detective or not her father had been wronged. She'd be darned before she let this man get away with murder!  
  
~~~~  
  
The dry cleaning store wasn't open on Sundays, giving Kaoru a much needed day of rest. At least it usually did. Not this time. Her thoughts were preoccupied with her recent discovery and what she should do now that made that discovery. She didn't know. Besides, she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something she was missing. But what could that possibly be?  
  
~@~  
  
Tuesday found Kaoru groggy with bags under her eyes. She hadn't slept well the night before, her slumber being interrupted by nightmare after nightmare, most of them having to do with disembodied, glowing amber eyes. She shuddered at the memory.  
  
'Well,' Kaoru thought, 'today's the day, whether I'm ready or not.' She steeled her nerves and waited for Mr. B to show up.  
  
Her head had started to droop, her consciousness giving way to her growing lack of energy when the door chime went off. Her heart jumped into her throat and for a second she thought she might suffocate. She took a deep breath and came around the wall.  
  
She was surprised to find a woman standing there, with long, straight black hair, and brown eyes that Kaoru suspected never missed anything.  
  
"Hello. How can I help you?" Kaoru asked, flashing her patent 'Barbie' fake smile.  
  
"A friend sent me to pick up their laundry. The name is Mr. B," the woman replied.  
  
Something about the woman's manner bugged Kaoru. She couldn't put her finger on why, though. It wasn't exactly sane to judge someone after only hearing them say one sentence.  
  
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I can't let you do that. It's store policy that only the people who own the clothes, or who brought them in, can pick them up. Mr. B will have to come in and get them himself. I'm terribly sorry." Kaoru actually felt a little smug after she said that, but did her best to hide it.  
  
The woman stared at her dubiously for a second before she said, "Surely it won't be that big of a deal if you let it happen just this once!" It was annoying. Kaoru had to struggle to keep her temper in check. She hated it when people thought that they deserved special consideration like that. It was pathetic.  
  
"If my boss ever found out it would be my job. Besides, how do I know that you aren't some enraged ex-girlfriend that wants to get back at her ex- boyfriend by ruining all his clothes? Or perhaps you have a fetish for men's business shirts. Although it's entirely possible that what you say is true and that you are here to pick up clothes for your friend," Kaoru said, the word 'friend' being accented in a way so that it was obvious that she doubted this was the truth.  
  
The woman seemed incensed. Kaoru could have sworn that she saw fire in the woman's eyes and her expression screamed that she would like nothing better than to beat this brat of a dry cleaning girl into submission. But she wouldn't.  
  
"Very well," the woman said in a snotty manner, "I'll let Mr. B know. He isn't going to be happy about this." It was a thinly veiled warning. A sardonic "Ha!" was the only answer she got. Turning on her heel she stormed out the door.  
  
"Well, that takes care of that!" Kaoru said with a smug grin as she wiped her hands together in a sign that she had just finished an important job.  
  
She probably would have continued to be smug for hours but she realized that now she really would have to face Mr. B. Crap.  
  
~~~~ Meanwhile . . .  
  
"I'm sorry Ken-san, but that little tanuki brat wouldn't let me get your clothes. Tried to give me some bull about company policy. She said that you have to be the one to pick the clothes up. I'm really sorry," Megumi said.  
  
Battousai merely raised an eyebrow at first, then casually said, "Alright then. I guess I have to go pick up my clothes."  
  
Megumi could only watch him go out the door. 'He didn't even say thank you!' she thought with a pout.  
  
~@~  
  
Kaoru glanced at the clock. It was getting closer to 7:00PM. Closing Time! The minute hand was making a slow yet steady trek to the 12, the secondhand speeding by it every now and then. It was almost hypnotic. She was concentrating so hard on the clock and what time it was that she didn't hear the door chime go off. It was the manly sounding grunt of an "Ahem" that alerted her to the customer's presence.  
  
Now, dear reader, do I really have to tell you who it was? Of course not, how silly of me. It was none other than Mr. B, flaming red hair, amber eyes and all.  
  
When Kaoru saw it was him she was doubly surprised. She had thought that since it was getting so close to closing time that he wouldn't come; it didn't help that there was a glint of some sort in his eye. Was it anger, was it fear, or was it . . . amusement?  
  
Kaoru was dumbfounded. Why would he be amused? Unbeknownst to her due to being deep in thought, she had just stood there, regarding the enigmatic man with a confused visage.  
  
The glint grew to a spark. Now Kaoru was sure of it, it was amusement. 'What is he laughing at, anyway?' a pause 'Is he laughing at me?!?!?' Her face reddened.  
  
"How can I help you?" she asked, trying to keep the anger out of her voice but just barely failing to do so.  
  
"I'm picking up the clothes you didn't let the kitsune pick up," was his cool reply.  
  
'Kitsune? Kitsune? Nope, don't remember any foxes coming in here lately. You'd think I would remember something like that! Hmm, kitsune . . . Oh!' she thought. 'Her.' The last part of her thought smacked with loathing.  
  
"Oh," she said casually; she didn't want to let this guy see her get riled up and she sure as heck wasn't going to let him. "You mean the pushy, loud woman with the long black hair."  
  
One side of the man's mouth twitched upward only the slightest bit. "Yes, that would be her," he replied, his tone not quite as dark and cold as it usually was.  
  
"It's a company policy. We can't let just anyone come in here and pick up clothes that might not belong to them." With the way she said it it almost sounded like a sigh. She was trying to sound like she didn't care much about the situation, one way or the other in hopes that Mr. B wouldn't make a big deal out of it.  
  
"I understand," came the surprising reply. "Truly good businesses are ones that uphold honor and integrity. I admire anyone who does so."  
  
Kaoru blushed a little, but turned away acting as if she was going to get his clothes to cover it. She hoped he hadn't seen. Something about what he said just sat kinda funny.  
  
He paid her for the clothes, and as he was walking out the door he said, "I'll see you on Thursday."  
  
Kaoru's jaw dropped. He never said anything after he paid. Ever. He seemed almost . . . talkative today. She shook her head as she quickly clarified the thought thinking, 'Of course that's in comparison to how little he normally talks.' She was in awe. What was up with him?  
  
~@~  
  
He was barely able to contain the smirk until he had left the quaint little store. A small chuckle even escaped his mouth. He really shouldn't do stuff like that to her. But she made it so easy! . . . Not to mention fun.  
  
The smirk deepened into a grin, then an all out smile as he thought back over her reactions.  
  
When she first came around the wall, she looked surprised to see him standing there. Battousai couldn't think what was so odd about his coming to get his clothes. Surely she had known that he would come to pick up his clothes after she threw Megumi out, refusing to let her get them. She was so obviously baffled that he couldn't help but let a little mirth release from his eyes.  
  
It was almost like he could see the gears and wheels inside her head turning as she tried to figure out some mystery. She apparently reached some sort of conclusion and her face reddened in annoyance. Had he been another man he would have laughed at that out right.  
  
"How can I help you," she asked, sounding slightly peeved.  
  
"I'm picking up the clothes you didn't let the kitsune pick up," he answered. If she was already confused he knew it would add to her confusion when he used Megumi's nickname. Honestly, she was so cute when she was annoyed! Wait a tic, where did that come from? Cute? Cute isn't a word in Battousai's vocabulary . . . was it?  
  
He pushed those thoughts aside as he watched her process what he had said. The light bulb flickered on and her countenance took on an even more annoyed look than before. "Oh, you mean the pushy, loud woman with the long black hair."  
  
'What is this?' he wondered. 'I can tell she's mad, but it almost seems like she's a little jealous. But of Megumi? Who'd be jealous of her?!' The idea was preposterous and his mouth twitched a little in a flash-and-fun smirking. "Yes, that would be her," he had replied.  
  
"It's a company policy. We can't let just anyone come in here and pick up clothes that might not belong to them." Had she sounded airy when she said that? 'Hmm, Megumi must have really ticked her off. I bet I'm not helping, either,' he thought, in his mind he could see himself grinning at the thought devilishly.  
  
"I understand. Truly good businesses are ones that uphold honor and integrity. I admire anyone who does so." Um, where did that come from? Since when did he really respect honesty? 'The oddest part is, I actually mean it.'  
  
The girl had turned quickly to get the clothes in an effort to hide the blush that had stained her cheeks from the compliment but Battousai had seen it all the same. Truly she was an odd creature. She was unpredictable. That fascinated him.  
  
She came back with his clothes and he paid for them. As he was walking out the door it felt as if there hadn't been enough closure to their encounter. On a whim he said, "I'll see you on Thursday," as he crossed the threshold. '. . . and I'll be looking forward to it,' he thought, the devilish grin no longer just in his mind, but now on his face for all to see.  
  
++++++ Review Replies for Chapters 2 and 3:  
  
Caitlin~ You really think that I've pulled it off nicely? *phew*! I have to admit that I was a little nervous about that! Yeah, I know what you mean about 12 year olds writing stuff. I can promise you I'm not a 12 year old.  
  
Moonlight's Sorrow~ Okay, okay, so I made Kaoru a little slow. It was for my own purposes (at least I think so). I just thought that it would be fun to stick that in there.  
  
Carol~ Don't make fun of me! Someone else already teased me about the dumb marker turning amber thing. Sheez! You people and your demands!  
  
blue eyes~ Get moving? Oh, my friend, my friend *shakes head slowly in disbelief*. You can't rush literary genius. It has a mind of its own. I'll try to get stuff out pretty quickly, but sometimes the story just doesn't want to be written and there's not a whole lot I can do about it. That probably sounds weird. Oh well.  
  
guess it ;p~ Nice handle. Do I really have to guess? I'm not good at guessing stuff. Cheesy? Yeah, I know. What name would you have used? For a second there I thought you were saying that you already knew the whole plot, not that you could see past the stupid little things I like to put in to what the story was mainly about. I was freaking out thinking, "That's impossible! I haven't put that many clues in yet! How could they possibly know?!?!"  
  
StratusNight~ Oh. It's you again. You know I'm just kidding! Of course I put Mr. Shibahime (I finally remembered the last name! Awahoo!) on my guy list! You saw my reaction to him! I know, it's surprising isn't it? It surprised me too. Why oh why did it have to be a side character that I had to fall in love with? About the story being told from both sides: while I'm writing a scene I'll get little ideas about what one character is thinking, and what the other one is thinking and I just decided that if I put it all in together it would make it jumbled and confusing. That would be bad. Anyway, where's your review for chapter 3? Hmm? What was that? I can't hear you! (well duh). I'm just messing around. Well, here's another chapter for you demanding people. 


	5. Chapter 5 Snap Decisions

Thursday had an almost entirely different feel for Kaoru than Tuesday had. On Tuesday she dreaded Mr. B's arrival and wished it would never come. Thursday she found that she was almost looking forward to it. He had acted so strangely on Tuesday and she was hoping that maybe she might be able to find out why today.  
  
Customers came and went all through her shift, keeping her busy enough that she wouldn't start peeling the paint off the wall out of boredom. That was never a good sign. Usually Kaoru was able to find something that would be at least somewhat productive when she was that bored, but she wasn't against resorting to peeling paint. A sad truth, really.  
  
By the time he came, she had been sitting primly on the stool, patiently waited for his arrival. As she went out to greet him she realized that she hadn't thought of what she was going to say today. 'Oh well, I guess I'll just have to wing it. Besides, my best performances are the ones that aren't premeditated.'  
  
When she came around the separating wall she saw him standing there, looking at hot as ever. He was wearing black leather pants and a plain white t-shirt. 'He looks like he's dangerous . . . it's pretty attractive. But by the looks of him I doubt he could really hurt anyone, let alone a fly.'  
  
"Good afternoon, Mr. B," she said, almost with a happy enthusiasm. Almost.  
  
When she turned to go his clothes off the racks, she heard something fall to the ground, but she didn't really think anything of it. Pens fell off the counters all the time and she didn't really feel like picking it up at the moment.  
  
"And today your total is $20," she said with a smile. In response he simply handed her a $50. When she pulled out the $20 (along with a $10 of course) for his change she noticed that it was the one he had used on Tuesday, the one she had marked on with the drug detecting pen. She endeavored to keep a straight or casual expression on her face, and hoped to death that he wouldn't notice or ask anything about it.  
  
Mr. B grabbed the bills, checked them, most likely to see that he got the right change, and said, "Thank you." Then he turned and left.  
  
'And here you were worrying over nothing!' she berated herself.  
  
It wasn't too long before she needed to start closing up. As she was about to get up to go lock the door, she heard someone come in. She was about to turn and see who was there when she felt a painful pinch on her neck, then everything went black.  
  
~@~  
  
Kenshin rifled through the unfamiliar purse, searching for a key or set of keys. He was in luck, 'Ah! There they are. Now we can leave.'  
  
He turned to the prone form on the floor. She kinda looked graceful, even though he left her the way she had fallen. He guessed it must just be natural poise or something like that. Reaching behind her knees with one arm and behind her neck with the other he hefted her up.  
  
"How much do you weigh?" he muttered to the passed out girl. "You're so light you'd probably blow away with the wind!" It was probably better that way. She'd be easier to carry if she was lighter rather than heavier.  
  
Carrying her out the back door of the store he opened the passenger side door of his nondescript black car and carefully placed her inside. Having accomplished that he went back to lock the front door, turn off all the lights, get her stuff, and lock the back door. If the morning worker came to find the door unlocked it would look suspicious.  
  
His upper lip curled in annoyance. He'd only seen the girl who worked in the morning once. That was more than enough. Her bubbly personality was in direct conflict with the darkness of his personality. 'People that happy should just be shot,' he thought bitterly to himself. Well, she was kinda cute, but in a little kid type of way. But not all that cute.  
  
Having locked the back door he climbed into his car. He glanced over at his new acquisition and wondered if he was doing the right thing. Of course he was. After pausing to think about it for a second or two he decided that it was the only thing he could do in the situation.  
  
~~~~  
  
~~~~  
  
She blinked rapidly as she woke up. Her vision was blurry and slowly began to clear. "Where am I?" she asked groggily, to no one in particular.  
  
A blob from across the room got up and came toward her. As it got closer it started resembling a man.  
  
"You're awake," the blob said in a masculine voice. "Here. Take these," it said, putting two small objects in one hand and what felt like a glass in the other.  
  
Holding the two objects close to her face in order to get a better look at them (aka she had them about 2" from her face) she decided that they looked like pain reliever, and that was enough for her. Popping them in her mouth she chugged them down with what turned out to be water. That being done she turned her blurry, yet slowly focusing vision on the Blob.  
  
He appeared to be fairly young, pretty tall, and had some of the strangest brown hair she had ever seen.  
  
"How does it do that?" she asked, sounding out of it.  
  
"The pain reliever? To be perfectly honest I-"  
  
"No, no," Kaoru said, waving a hand as if to get rid of the idea. "I meant your hair."  
  
"What about my hair?" the Blob-man asked, his pitch rising a little in irritation. His brown hair appeared to be sticking straight up from his head. If he used gel or some sort of styling agent, he probably went through something like three bottles a week!  
  
"How is it able to defy gravity like that?"  
  
Her vision had cleared enough that she could make out the expression on the young man's face. He seemed a little peeved. He opened his mouth as if to say something when someone interrupted him.  
  
"It grows that way," a female said, walking into the room.  
  
"Oh yeah," the man said, "She woke up, Megumi."  
  
"I can see that," Megumi replied, raising an eyebrow. The woman turned to Kaoru. "How do you feel?"  
  
When Kaoru turned to look at the woman she was shocked to see the snotty woman who had tried to pick up Mr. B's clothes. Her eyebrows knit in confusion. "But-"  
  
"Oh, so you remember me. Then again I *am* pretty memorable," Megumi said with a flip of her long hair over her shoulder.  
  
"You could say that again," Kaoru muttered to herself.  
  
"What was that?"  
  
"I said that I feel ok. Why do you ask?"  
  
"Oh, I have quite a bit of medical knowledge and I basically serve as the doctor around here when I'm not doing my other work."  
  
"Other work?" Kaoru asked.  
  
"Oh, that's not important. Anyway, we'll let you rest now, you've had a long day. Oh! I almost forgot, how rude of me! My name is Megumi and the dimwit over there is Sanosuke."  
  
"Pleased to meet you Miss- HEY! I'm not a dimwit!"  
  
Grabbing the collar of his shirt Megumi pulled Sanosuke to the door and said, "Anyway, well, we'll let you sleep now," and softly shut the door.  
  
Kaoru could still hear Sanosuke loudly complaining in the hallway about what Megumi had called him. The only reaction she could really come up with was a raised eyebrow. 'Oh well," she thought, "I might as well get some sleep like they said. I'll figure out what's going on tomorrow.'  
  
~  
  
Review Replies:  
  
Aryana1~ Um, yeah, it's kinda interesting how I came up with the idea. I was at work (I'll bet you never guess where I worked) and I was really bored. The idea just came to me, so yeah. I decided to post it. But the dry cleaners isn't the only setting for the story, it was just a starting point.  
  
StratusNight~ I thought it was funny. Not to mention fairly accurate (I really loved the whole "Amon-That was...you need glasses" thing). Looks like I took you up on your offer to kick back for a little bit. I did watch some anime, but I skipped on the pecan pie and kit kats (apparently they're fattening and we don't want that for poor Van-Chan!).  
  
Gypsy-chan~ ::blushes:: Oh, stop! You're embarrassing me! I never could take praise all that well, but thank you. I'm glad you like it. As you can see, I introduced that rooster head that you seem to be fond of. I couldn't help myself, it wouldn't be a Rurouni Kenshin fic without Sanosuke in it!  
  
wouldn't you like to know?~ Uh, nice sn there. A little aggressive, wouldn't you say? Anyway, I hope I didn't change the pattern of the story getting better and better with this last chapter. That would be kinda sad.  
  
Boomerang-chan~ ::sweat drops:: As far as I know, the whole drug detector pen is simply a figment of my imagination. I loosely based it on markers they have to see if money is counterfeit or not. If the money is real the ink looks like an amber/ochre (I must be a girl, using "ochre" to describe a color; oh man!) color. I know what it's like to have a crazy cousin. Just ask StratusNight about it if you don't believe me. ;)  
  
Caitlin~ Two reviews? I'm flattered! Sorry about taking so long for this update. I've hit a semi-writer's block, but it isn't too serious. I know what I want to happen in the end (sort of) so I just need to keep heading in that direction. Besides, I'm fairly confident that ideas will come to me as I go along. They usually do.  
  
Moonlight's sorrow~ Hmm, I probably should have given a little more explanation of the drug detector pen. In my head I saw it as reacting to residue on the currency. I realize there's somewhat of a flaw in this, but let's not get all nit-picky. Sorry about the confusion. I promise that wasn't my intent (I get confused all the time and it drives me nuts; it isn't because I'm ditzy, either! I don't know why it happens . . . ). Anyway, I hope you like this chapter! 


	6. GASP!

**GASP!** Could it be! Is bonessasan finally posting something after disappearing for over two years! YES!

I can't explain why, but I went back and read over what I had written for Cleaning Up After and decided that I want to take another crack at it. Okay, before you all start jumping up and down in your seats for joy, I have to warn you: my writing style probably won't be the same, and I'm fairly sure my sense of humor is a little different (but still uniquely mine!). In all honesty, I don't think I've really written anything other than stuff for school and classes etc since I posted this. Sadness::weeps: . . . uh, I'm ok now. ; Anyway, I want to go back over what I've written so far and take the story forward. As for the reason I abandoned the story for two years: fear, pure and simple. I wasn't entirely sure where I wanted the story line to go and kinda wrote myself into a corner. Rather than try and fail, I just failed to try (/gosh/ I love chiasmus!). Even though this attempt could possibly plunge to a fiery death (and then have the ashes get peed on by some snotty neighborhood kid) I'm going to try anyway. I'm going to be daring about it, too. I'm going to leave up the old version so everyone can compare them and laugh at me. Won't it be fun? XD


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